


Thwarting Destiny.

by Michaelssw0rd



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Body Modification, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Endgame Fix-It, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Loki (Marvel) Lives, M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Screwing the destiny Tony Stark way, Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 20:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19047472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michaelssw0rd/pseuds/Michaelssw0rd
Summary: AVENGERS ENDGAME SPOILERSTony reached the tower just after Hulk had been through with Loki in the penthouse. Through the window, he could see Loki was awake. More importantly, he was alone.Tony was only human. He had not seen Loki in five fucking years. What was he supposed to do? Wait?





	Thwarting Destiny.

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, using frostiron to fix the storyline Marvel messed up for me, _again._
> 
> I am coming out of a severe writing block, so this was a struggle, but I needed this. (And needed more Loki, dammit). I hope someone else needs this too. <3

Tony reached the tower just after Hulk had been through with Loki in the penthouse. Through the window, he could see Loki was awake—as opposed to what they had otherwise believed back then—and was making no move to run away or create more chaos.

The beating Hulk had put him through had been enough for what Natasha had called ‘ _cognitive re-calibration’_. Of course, at that time they hadn’t known Loki was as much under the mind-stone’s effect as Clint had been.

So there was Loki, awake and in control of his thoughts for the first time in a long time. More importantly, he was _alone_.

Tony was only human. He had not seen Loki in five fucking years. What was he supposed to do? Wait?

He flew in from the hole in the penthouse glass wall—the window Loki had thrown him out of so many years ago—and landed in front of Loki. The sight of him, bruised and battered and not just because of what Hulk had put him through, made Tony’s heart ache. After coming to know all about Thanos, about what the Other had put him through to lead him here, he wondered how they didn’t _see_ it before. The anguish in Loki’s eyes. The relief at being caught.

Tony tapped his chest piece to remove his armor and walked towards Loki, who was slowly pushing himself out of the hole in the floor.

“Come to collect your war trophy, mortal?” Loki’s voice was full of hate. It had been a while since Tony had heard venom like that in his voice. Still, it was a voice he had dearly missed, venom and all. He had thought he would never hear it again.

Tony felt like the shards were back in his chest, closer to piercing his heart than they had been in Afghanistan.

“Loki.” He didn’t even try to hide the multitude of emotions in his tone.

“You might have won the fight, but it is nothing compared to what I’m capable of. You’re nothing, you hear me? _Nothing_. You can’t keep me captured for long. I will crush you all under my heel.” Loki continued to monologue, but was making no move to actually act on his threats, as Tony couldn’t help but notice.

For all Tony wanted to hug the bastard, he knew there was years to go before Loki and he were even on friendly terms. Instead, he summoned his wit that had won over Loki’s heart the first time around. Loki’s statement, not his own.

“You say that, but you look pretty comfortable where you’re sitting. Why is that, I wonder?” Tony smirked when Loki was caught off guard. “Is it maybe that the Hulk shook your head out of Thanos’s hold. The Widow did the same to Clint, by the way, albeit on a much smaller scale.”

Loki looked startled, but a moment later his face became blank. At least that’s what it would look like to anyone else. Tony knew better.

Loki was calculating.

“You aren’t from this time.”

“Bingo.” Tony grinned, making finger gun at Loki. He knew it was juvenile, but when had he ever claimed to be otherwise. “You always were one clever bastard.”

“And in your time, you know about the Mad Titan’s hold on me.  Does that mean…”

“Uh-uh. Spoilers, sweetheart.” Tony shook a finger at him.

“If that is the case, your presence here, and your familiarity with me is enough of a spoiler.” Loki slowly pushed himself to standing. He winced while doing so, and Tony had to suppress his urge to help him. Loki of this time would not have welcomed it. “It informs me that we become… _friends_ , as preposterous as the thought may be.” He said the words like they are an insult, and Tony couldn’t suppress his quiet chuckle.

“Oops. But what can I say, I’ve never been very good at spoilers. We have history of it. I told you Dumbledore dies. You were murderous; well… more murderous than usual.” Tony shrugged. “But… not why I’m here.”

“Why _are_ you here, then?” Loki drawled, folding his hands at his back.

“I—“ Tony stopped short. He had no idea why he was here. This was not a part of the plan. This was the farthest thing away from the plan. He knew he would be walking into the past with Loki in it, but he had somehow buried that fact so deep that seeing his stupidly beautiful face, even banged up as it was right now, had taken him completely by surprise. This was all extremely spur of the moment, and he might even be willing to accept… quite stupid.

He didn’t know what he wanted. He just… wanted. Wanted Loki to have spent the last five years with him; wanted him to have been there when the universe fell apart; wanted him to have gone with the snap of Thanos’s fingers so he could’ve had any hope of _saving_ him through this reckless time-heist.

He wanted Loki to not be dead.

Suddenly, that was the plan. To hell with timelines and butterfly effect.

“You like stabbing people, don’t you?” Tony started, getting a slight kick out of the look on Loki’s face at this non sequitur. “With sharp pointy things. Like a dagger. Or a knife… or your tongue.” He walked closer to Loki as he talked. When he was close enough that he could see the confusion on Loki’s eyes, he grinned. He knew it must’ve looked have deranged. “Well, don’t.”

“What in the name of Norns are you—”

“Loki, listen to me.” There was a hint of desperation in his voice. He reached out and grabbed Loki’s arm, clenching it tightly. A part of him wanted to hold onto him and take him back to the future and screw the universe like it had screwed him. “Don’t try to stab him.”

“Him?”

“Thanos. Thor… he told me. What were you thinking, you fool? Did you really thinking a knife would kill him while he was superjuiced with two infinity stones? How could you—“ He shook his head, shaking Loki’s arm with him. “Think of something else. Anything else. Use your magic clones or whatever. Just…please, Loki. Please.”

Loki was looking at him curiously, like one would examine a lab animal. All Tony could see in front of him was a cherished face that he had missed looking at so much. The next words out of his mouth were nothing short of begging. “Live.”

Without looking away from his gaze, Loki raised his hand, and clamped it on the hand Tony was holding his arm with. For a moment, Tony thought it was a gesture of comfort, until Loki’s grip tightened enough to make him wince, his bones complaining under Loki’s strength.

While Loki’s grip on Tony’s hand grew more painful, the expressions on his face became nastier. Until he jerked Tony’s hand away, twisting it and making him cry out. His face was a wall of derision and contempt.

“And why should I listen to you, my enemy? Why should I trust the words out of the mouth of a pathetic little creature from the future, teaching me, the God of Chaos, what to do? Nothing you say holds any worth in my eyes; you’re nothing but the annoying noise the insects make in their tiny little lives, thinking they matter.”

While Loki looked livid, like he was going to spit on his face in a moment, Tony couldn’t help the quirk of his lips, until he started laughing. It was only half-hysterical. It quieted Loki though, making him look confused again, and stare at Tony like he had lost his mind.

Maybe he had. But this was so damn familiar. Achingly so.

“I forgot you used to talk like that.” Tony didn’t even try to keep his fondness out of his voice. “How much of that do you actually believe?” Before Loki could answer, he continued. “That was rhetorical. You already told me. Or in this case, you will. I am not sure you quite know it yourself yet.”

He could’ve stayed here all day—all century, making up for all the lost time—but he knew the battle outside was wrapping up. Any moment now, the Avengers would reach the facility, pointing their weapons at Loki. He glanced at the elevator, and sure enough, it was climbing up the floors.

He had barely seconds.

“Would love to hang out and chat, but I have got places to go, universes to save, blah blah.” He pulled himself away from Loki, and then made the mistake of looking at his face.

Suddenly he realized that that the last time he had seen Loki, he hadn’t known it was the _last_ time. This time, he knew.

“On second thought,” He didn’t finish what he was going to say. Using surprise as his element, he jerked Loki closer to himself as he rose up on his toes and pressed his lips against Loki’s, quick and sure.

In the next moment, he heard the elevator ding. He shoved Loki away, ran and jumped out of the window, activating his suit at the same time. He didn’t look back. Couldn’t. He might not have been able to leave if he had.

He took a few moments of just hovering in the air to calm down his heart, realizing that what happened in the penthouse might’ve been their first and their last kiss at the same time.

The thought made him laugh, and he ignored the bitter tears stinging his eyes.

“Well, that was stupid,” he muttered to himself.

“I agree.” The voice almost made him squeak out loud, before realizing it was Scott’s. Shit. Scott had been on his shoulder the whole time? How had he forgotten?

“Relax, Tony.” Scott spoke, awfully quiet. “I understand.”

“You do?”

“If I could meet Hope again right now…” he tapered off. “Trust me. I get it. Doesn’t change the fact that it was stupid.”

“I know, okay.” Tony wanted to bang his head against a wall. But with the suit, it would damage the wall more than himself. “I know. I just couldn’t…”

“Help yourself. Yeah.” Scott finished his sentence. “Now, I do hope that was the only stupid thing you had planned for tonight, because we have a Tesseract to steal.”

Tony took a deep breath, reminding himself of everything that was at stake.

“Let’s do this.” He nodded, getting his head back in the game. Then he flew back up towards the penthouse, this time to hide behind a wall.

He noticed Loki’s eyes dart towards his corner once, but he made no move to inform the rest of the Avengers, acting like nothing strange had happened in the last few minutes. For that, he was glad, despite his heart feeling like it wanted to claw out of his chest every second he stayed here.

He did what he did best—what he had been doing for the last five years. He compartmentalized. He focused on pulling off the heist and hoped that somehow, in some way, he might have changed the course of Loki’s fate.

* * *

 

When the portals opened over the battlefield, all the forces of the Universe united against the single threat against it, Tony almost expected to see the distinct sliver of green magic and the trademark smirk of the mage who wielded it.

Loki didn’t make it. He expected that, but the confirmation still felt like a stab in his gut. His eyes still scanned the armies as he watched them pour in, hopeful against all hope.

“Boss, I do not detect the magical signature specific to Loki—“

“Thanks, FRIDAY.” And it was only half sarcastic. Knowing FRIDAY couldn’t detect Loki either made it easier to stop looking for him; there was the battle for the survival of the universe to be fought. He couldn’t afford to be selfish.

In the end, of course universe demanded a sacrifice. _Of course_.

If he had had more time, the choice might’ve been a hard one to make, but he didn’t think he would’ve made a different one. In some ways, he had already made the choice when he had said yes to the plan. There was never going to be another answer.

Once, years ago, he had been shown a nightmare where all his friends died… and he _lived_. It was like showing a mighty gold-titanium-alloy encased finger to fate to choose a pathway that led to exactly the opposite ending.

Everybody lives. Everybody, except him.

There was a vicious sort of victory in that. That, compounded by the look of absolute horror and shock on the Purple Grape’s face almost made the excruciating pain in his arm worth it.

In that moment, he sort of understood what Thanos felt. He had the power of all creation in his hand. Literally. He just had to say ‘ _be’,_ and it will. For a split second, he was the God of this universe. He was,

“… Ironman.”

With a snap of his fingers, it was.

He won.

He didn’t register much else after that. He saw Thanos turn into dust in a strangely detached and out of body kind of way. He expected to feel exhilaration, fear, or agony. In reality, he didn’t feel much of anything.

Rhodey held his shoulder, and Peter came over and told him they had won. Pepper told him they will be okay, and he knew they would be. He had made sure of that. It still felt like a comfort to hear. Made it easier to let go.

To follow Pepper’s instructions one last time, and _rest_.

Before he faded out, the last thing he thought he noticed were green flowing robes, a gentle, familiar touch on his face, and an extremely cherished voice calling his name. “Anthony.”

Loki had told him that the Aiesr that died in battle went to Valhalla after their death. He wasn’t an Aiesr; but he wondered, after all he had done, if maybe he would be allowed visitation rights. That was the last thought in his mind, before all thoughts faded away.

* * *

 

Tony opened his eyes—which was surprising it itself. He wasn’t expecting to open his eyes… like, ever. But what was even more surprising was that he opened his eyes in his _bedroom_.

He opened his mouth to call out, but it was an all-around terrible decision. His throat felt like it was full of broken glass, leading him to a fit of coughing. He all but screamed as the movement made him aware of the fact that his body felt like it had been crushed a million times over.

All of a sudden, there was someone pressing down on his chest and the pain suddenly reduced. There was a spoon full of ice chips at his lips, which he gratefully accepted, before looking at the person offering them.

And froze.

He had had enough time to recall his last memories—of war and death and pain and loss. This wasn’t real. Couldn’t be.

So there really could be one explanation for all this.

“I really thought the architects of heaven, or Valhalla, or whatever this is, would be slightly more creative,” he spoke, but his voice came out croaky, scratching his throat. “Or at least less sadistic. I mean, this is supposed to be heaven, and I am still in pain? Sounds a little unfair, doesn’t it?”

A face he had said farewell too, had given up the hope of ever seeing again, was staring at him much in the same way he expected he was staring back. “But as unoriginal as the artists are, there is something to be said about the company.” He knew there was a smile on his lips, despite the pain. “I missed you, Bambi.”

“Anthony.” There was something worshipful in his voice, something fragile. “You’re awake.”

“I thought I was dead,” Tony squinted, observing the way Loki looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. ““But now I am considering otherwise.” He tried to sit up, but doubled over in pain again. That’s when he noticed that Loki’s hand pressed to his chest were emitting green glow. A few moments later, the pain became bearable again.

“You doing this?”

“Yes.” Loki spoke in barely more than a whisper. “But my seidr reserves are thin.” It was Loki’s way of telling him to stay still. Tony obliged.

“So I’m—“ Coughing again. Loki was quick to offer him ice chips again. As he did so, Tony noticed his hands were shaking. Tony obediently swallowed before continuing. “So I’m not dead?”

Loki shook his head.

“Okay, that brings me to my next question, how are _you_ not dead?”

“You told me not to stab.” Loki brushed a hair away from Tony’s face, for which he was grateful. The hair was annoying him, and he didn’t think he could’ve raised his hand to brush it away.

“Oh. You remembered that.” As much as he had hoped his gamble would’ve worked, he didn’t know what to do with the fact that it _did_. “So, you’re saying that you knew this whole time… and you never told me that I will one day _time travel_? Rude.” Before Tony could get properly indignant about it, he thought of another thing.

“Wait a minute, so if Thanos didn’t kill you, then where the hell were you the last five years—oh.” He suddenly shut up, watching the expressions on Loki’s face.

“Indeed.” Loki knew Tony had figured it out. “The Mad Titan very nearly killed me, and by the time I recovered from his attack, I found myself disintegrating. I was, as always, in the wrong half of the universe.”

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Fuck Thanos. He had taken Loki from him… twice. “But you weren’t there.” Tony whispered, remembering the moment of the battle. “I looked Loki, I scanned the whole battle. You weren’t there.”

“Your Midgardian Wizard didn’t know to open a portal for me, and using the paths of Yggdrasil in the state I was in is… tricky.” Loki said. “I almost didn’t make it to the battle. And then I was nearly too late to save you.”

“Hey!” Tony couldn’t bear to see the look of anguish on Loki’s face, so he tried to lighten the mood. “Let’s not forget that I saved you first.”

Loki laughed. The sound was wet with unshed tears. “You stupid, reckless, infuriatingly fragile mortal.”

“That gives me déjà vu to the timeheist. Are we back to name calling again? And why is _mortal_ an insult.”

Loki suddenly looked a little guilty. “About that…”

Before he could say anything else, the door of his room burst open and there was a blur after which he found arms thrown around him, and Peter all but lying on top of him.

“You’re awake.” Peter said, in his usual hyper energetic way. Tony’s eyes absolutely didn’t sting at remembering how much he had missed that. “I was out, and Karen told me that Friday told her but I couldn’t believe it. You’re really awake.”

“I won’t be for long if you keep crushing me like that,” Tony groaned, and only half of it for show. The boy had crazy spidey strength and Tony was an exceptionally fragile human right now.

“Sorry.” He pulled back with a jerk, and Tony wanted to kick himself for the look on his face, but also because he missed the hug. “It’s just, so great to see you, Mr. Stark. I was scared. We all were. You did that thing with the stones and then you were all, dying and stuff, and Friday said your life functions were failing. It was horrible. And then Mr. Loki came out of nowhere. You have met Mr. Loki, right. He said he was a friend.” Peter looked between the two of them, before barging on. “So, Mr. Loki did this green wooshy thing and then you were all frozen, and we thought you were dead. But you weren’t. Wasn’t he, Mr. Loki?”

“Kid.” Tony watched him, helplessly smiling. As adorable as the kid was, it was hard to keep track of his rambling. “Slow down.”

“Oh.” Peter stopped speaking, shaking his head. There were unshed tears in his eyes. “I’m just very happy to see you.”

“Me too.” Tony wanted to get up and hug him again, but he was also curious. “So, what happened after Loki magically froze me?”

“He went away for a few days. Returned with a magical apple from some goddess, and healed you.” Another voice spoke from the door before Peter could answer. Tony watched as Nebula slowly entered the room. Tony had spent enough time with her by now to know she looked relieved. It might be a stretch to say she looked happy though. He didn’t know if she ever _could_. Not that he blamed her, after what she had been through. “Sadly, he couldn’t do anything about your arm.”

It was a testament to how surprising the whole situation was that it was only when Nebula mentioned it that Tony noticed. His right arm. The one that had wielded the gauntlet was… it wasn’t there anymore. Instead, he had a bandaged stump that ended at the shoulder.

Bile rose to his throat, but he swallowed it down. He knew everyone was watching him for a reaction, so he mustered a smile. A limb was a small price to pay; he had been willing to give up a lot more. He glanced at Loki, who was avoiding his eyes, and then back at Nebula. “I guess I will have to be a bit more like you from now on then.”

Nebula’s usually blank face looked even blanker. She was confused, Tony could tell, so he explained. “I wouldn’t say Thanos invented bionic limbs—they have been quite the talk of the century even on the apparently backward planet earth— but I’ll perfect them. Then we can be bionic arms buddies.”

That was a smile. The same smile that Nebula had when he played stupid games with her on their journey back from Titan. Which was to say, it wasn’t much of a smile at all. For nebula, it still counted.

“Stark,” this time when she spoke, she looked hesitant, and Tony knew what she was going to say.

“It wasn’t you, Nebula.”

“It was.” Nebula countered. “But I want you to know, I killed her.”

“You…” Tony looked at her in surprise. “You killed yourself?”

“Yes,” she replied, without any indication in her tone of how reckless and self-sacrificial that act was. That may have been the Nebula of another timeline, but it was still herself. Her past self. And denying oneself the chance of redemption, the chance of finding what Nebula had eventually found, was… he didn’t even know what to say.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to say anything. When he heard the cry of “Daddy,” as the door banged open this time, he _did_ manage to push himself up from the bed. It was worth the pain to wrap his one arm around Morgan when she climbed on top of the bed with him. She hid her face in his chest and clung to him as Tony buried his face in her hair. If there were tears in his eyes, he _had_ just died and came back to life.

“Hey, daddy’s girl. How are you?” He stroked her hair slowly, feeling sobs wrack her frame. She just shook her head in his chest, refusing to speak or let go.

He turned his face to look at Loki then, wondering if they had been introduced. If Loki knew about her, about him and Pepper, about how they had tried to find solace in each other in the universe that had suddenly become all too empty. Even if their relationship hadn’t lasted—they had always been better off as friends—he could never regret trying, because it gave him Morgan.  He wondered in Loki knew that; if he _understood._

Loki could apparently read the questions in his eyes, because he answered without being prompted.

“Lady Pepper told me,” he said, and just like that Tony knew Loki understood everything. There was no accusation in his voice, and there was only fondness in his eyes as he looked at Morgan. “Your child is both smart and beautiful, much like her father.”

“Flatterer.” Tony smiled, even if it was shaky. “Don’t think this can make me forget about the apples; and you still have the gall to call me _mortal_?”

“The thought never even crossed my mind,” Loki widened his beautiful, fake-innocent eyes. “But for now, you have people who want to see you.”

Peter sat down on chair beside his bed, and Nebula leaned against the far wall, as one by one, all of the surviving Avengers and family started trickling into the room, surrounding Tony.

Everybody wants a happy ending, but it doesn’t always roll that way. He had said that, and believed it too. He had been sure that there couldn’t be a happy ending to his story.

It felt nice to be proven wrong, every now and then.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys thought of the fic? Pretty please. Also feel free to rant your ALL THE EMOTIONS about endgame at me. Because, me too guys. Me too.


End file.
